The Greenplum database is large, scalable, shared-nothing Structured Query Language (SQL) database. The Greenplum database has a self-describing catalog which describes the state of the system and its contents. In other words, the Greenplum catalog includes metadata. Developer catalog access tools which access the Greenplum catalog are implemented in an inconsistent manner, some of which make the system vulnerable to failures and errors. Different developers over the years have worked on these catalog access tools, and the code has become quite large and is inconsistently implemented. New catalog access techniques which are easier for developers to use and/or which reduce exposure to potential system failures would be desirable.